DETAILING FOR P O S T- T E N S I O N I N G
As a final comment, sound engineering
judgement is still the most important ingredient
in a good design. Throughout this report you
may find what might appear to be
inconsistencies in design values for specific
cases. This has been done deliberately to
reinforce the point that the information
presented is not a set of rigid rules, but rather a
guide which must be applied with judgement.
2.3 Performance Criteria
Before one can adequately detail a post-
tensioned structure, one must understand what
the performance requirements are. The general
objective is obviously to provide a safe and
serviceable structure. The question is "What are
reasonable ultimate and service design loads
for strength and serviceability checks?"
Modern safety theory could be used to
determine design loads by considering all of the
relevant parameters as statistical variables and
examining the combined effect of these
variations. The net result would be load and
resistance factors selected to provide some
desired probability of failure. For example, if
one took a load factor of 1.3 on the maximum
jacking force, and a resistance factor of 0.75 for
the anchorage zone, one would get a factored
design load greater than realizable strength of
the tendons - a physical impossibility! More
significantly, the corresponding resistance
factors result in unrealistically low predicted
design strengths for the concrete. Using such
proposed load and resistance factors would
render most current anchorage designs
unacceptable. Since the current designs have
evolved from many years of satisfactory
experience, one must conclude that it is the
proposed load and resistance factors which are
not satisfactory!
Fortunately, by reviewing the construction
and load history of a post-tensioning system,
one can arrive at reasonable design values in a
rational and practical manner. In typical
applications the history is as follows: 1. Post-
tensioning is stressed to a maximum temporary
jack force of 80 % GUTS when the concrete has
a verified compressive strength of 80 f'c, the
specified 28 day strength.
2. By design, immediately after lock-off, the
maximum force at the anchorage is at most
70 % GUTS.
3. For bonded systems, the tendon is grouted
shortly after stressing. For cast-in-place
members, the shoring is removed. In the
case of precast members, they are erected.
4. The structure is put into service only after the
concrete has reached the full specified
strength.
5. Time dependent losses will reduce the
effective prestressing force and hence, the
anchorage force will decrease with time to
about 62 % GUTS.
6. (a) Bonded systems - Actions (loads and
imposed deformations) applied to the
structure which produce tension strains in the
concrete and bonded non-prestressed
reinforcement produce similar strain
increases in the bonded prestressed
reinforcement. In zones of uncracked
concrete, these strains produce negligible
increases in force at the anchorage. Bond
demands (requirements) in uncracked zones
are small. Once cracks develop, the force in
the bonded reinforcement (prestressed and
no n-prestressed) increase via bond. When
the maximum bond resistance is reached,
local slip occurs. If the anchorage is located
further away from the crack than the
development length of the tendon, again only
insignificant increases in the force of the
anchorage result. However, for anchorages
close to the crack, increases in the
anchorage force up to the maximum
realizable capacity of the tendon assembly
may be reached. The realizable capacity is
the anchorage efficiency times the nominal
capacity. The maximum tendon capacity
realized is usually about 95 % GUTS. At this
point, the wedges may start to slip, but
usually individual wires in the strand begin to
break. The strain experienced by the
structure is the strain capacity of the strand
(at least 2 %) less the strain introduced to the
strand prior to bonding (about 0.6 %) and is
thus about six times the yield strain for the
non-prestressed bonded reinforcement. Note
that should an anchorage fail, the tendon
force often can be transferred by bond in a
manner similar to ordinary pre-tensioned
members. The bond provides an alternative
load path for the introduction of the tendon
force into the concrete thereby improving safety
through redundancy. Locating anchorages
away from sections of maximum stress, as is
normally done, therefore provides improved
safety. (b) Unbonded systems - Due to the
absence of bond, the prestressed
reinforcement does not normally experience the
same strain as the nonprestressed bonded
reinforcement when actions are applied to the
structure. With large structural deformations,
the changes in tendon geometry produce
increases in the tendon force, but these are not
necessarily sufficient to cause tendon yielding.
The deformations required to produce the
changes in tendon geometry necessary to
develop the realizable capacity of the tendon
are enormous and usually can not be sustained by
the concrete.
A satisfactory design is possible if one
examines what can go wrong during the
construction and use of a structure, along with
the resulting consequences. By looking at such
fundamentals, one can readily deal with
unusual construction and loading histories. For
anchorages with the typical construction and
load histories, one can conclude that the
anchorage typically receives its maximum force
during stressing when the concrete strength is
80 % f'c. In service, the anchorage forces will be
smaller and the concrete strengths will be
larger. It is possible to exceed the usual
temporary jacking force of 80 % GUTS during
stressing but not by very much and certainly not
by a factor of 1.3. First, the operator controls the
stressing jack to prevent excessive
overstressing. Unless an oversized jack is used
to stress a tendon, the jack capacity of about 85
% GUTS will automatically govern the
maximum jacking force. Finally, if an oversized
jack is used and the operator blunders (or the
pressure gage is defective), the anchorage
efficiency at the wedges will limit the realizable
tendon force to about 95 % GUTS. This is
accompanied by tendon elongations of at least
2 % (about 3 times greater than normal) which
cannot go unnoticed. For anchorages in service
it is possible but not usually probable that the
anchorage force increases as discussed in
point 6 above. In any event, the maximum
realizable force is governed by the anchorage
efficiency.